Posts Tagged ‘smartphone car’

One new NHTSA proposal would effectively lock drivers out from smartphone apps like texting.

Federal regulators are taking two seemingly opposite steps in the name of safety: they want mew battery-electric vehicles to make more noise, but they also want to silence some of those smartphone apps catching blame for distracted driving.

Both issues are expected to become more serious in the years to come, as in-car electronics become increasingly common and as normally quiet battery-powered vehicles gain more traction — but pose risks for pedestrians, especially the visually handicapped, who might not see them coming.

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There’s been growing demand to lock out texting and other apps while a vehicle is moving, but the rules the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to work on during the final months of the Obama Administration are also generating significant pushback.

Ford has purchased Detroit software house Livio to help it expand the number of apps it can offer in-car.

Ford Motor Co. has alternately won praise for its high-tech Sync infotainment system and been slammed for the problems with its MyFordTouch touchscreen interface. But even as the maker struggles to resolve some of those problems it has taken a big step forward in its push to give motorists access to a wide range of smartphone apps and features.

The Detroit maker has acquired a small suburban Detroit start-up called Livio for $10 million with an eye towards making it simpler to link Sync with motorists’ smartphones. The goal is to come up with an industry standard for connecting those devices. Curiously, Livio’s first big automaker client was Ford’s cross-town rival General Motors, which recently turned to the small, high-tech firm for help with the infotainment systems on its downsized Chevrolet Spark and Sonic models.

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“With the additional expertise Livio provides us, Ford intends to continue to lead the next generation of in-car connectivity with technology advancements that give consumers more options to access their devices on the go,” said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president, Ford Research and Innovation, in a statement.